The Issues

Yuvraj Khanna for Global Citizen

We’re often told that the world’s problems are intractable, that hunger is just a fact of life, that climate change is unavoidable, that extreme poverty will always exist.

But Global Citizens are clear-eyed in our optimism about the change we can bring about.

We know that world hunger can be defeated — the current amount of food produced right now is enough to fill every belly globally, yet a third of it goes to waste. We know that the answer to the climate crisis — rapidly phasing out fossil fuels — just needs the right political will, commitment, and funding. We know that poverty, as the great Nelson Mandela said, is manmade, and that it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

Our Policy Pillars

The Global Citizen platform mobilizes millions of people and convenes across sectors — business, entertainment, policy, government, philanthropy — to drive tangible policy change and financial investments across three key policy pillars: defeat poverty, demand equity and defend the planet.

Defeat Poverty

Over 700 million people in our world currently live in extreme poverty. With collective action, we can change this.

Demand Equity

Every person, everywhere, should have an equal chance to live up to their full potential.

Defend the Planet

The world’s poorest people contribute the least but suffer the most from the climate crisis. Climate change impacts people's health, ability to access nutritious food, and liv